1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to surgical instruments and, more particularly, to deployment mechanisms for deploying, e.g., actuating, multiple components of a surgical instrument.
2. Background of Related Art
Many surgical instruments include one or more movable handles, levers, actuators, triggers, etc. for actuating and/or manipulating one or more functional components of the surgical instrument. For example, a surgical forceps may include a movable handle that is selectively compressible relative to a stationary handle for moving first and second jaw members of the forceps between spaced-apart and approximated positions for grasping tissue therebetween. Such a forceps may further include a trigger for selectively deploying a knife between the jaw members to cut tissue grasped therebetween.
In general, each functional component provided with a surgical instrument requires a corresponding deployment structure for actuating that particular component, e.g., a movable handle for moving the jaw members or a trigger for deploying the knife. As additional functional components are added to the surgical instrument, either additional deployment structures or a deployment structure capable of actuating more than one component is required.